Learn / Learn by Doing
How to use Journal
Journal is for live ideas you already have on. This site marks them and writes a hold, close, or roll note. It never sends orders.
Journal is for a structure you already have at a broker — or one you are only thinking about, as long as you remember this site does not place it. Practice stays separate so pretend marks never look like a live book.
Open Journal from the nav any time. Lessons end with a Journal link so you can leave Learn and come back.
What if on a journal row is the same example math as the lesson labs. Log the fill first, then stress stock, days, and IV (implied volatility) there.
Tickets for this structure
BTO (buy to open) · STO (sell to open) · BTC (buy to close) · STC (sell to close). Illustrative fills only. We never send these orders.
BTO (buy to open)
Open a long
Log a long you already opened
Underlying MSFT. Structure: Long call or a debit spread. Type the strikes and expiration you actually have. Entry premium is what you paid, as a debit. Read how the structure works, then Log this. That writes the journal row and queues a delayed mark. You already sent the real BTO (buy to open) at a broker, or you have not — either way, this row is a note.
STO (sell to open)
Open a short
Log a short you already opened
Structure: Cash-secured put or covered call. Legs are sell. Entry premium is a credit. The card shows max profit, max loss, breakeven, and why you would sell the premium. Log this stores the number so the delayed mark can be compared. The journal does not collect cash.
STC (sell to close)
Close a long
Mark the idea closed
On the idea page, Mark closed. That is STC (sell to close)/BTC (buy to close) in the journal only. Send the real close at your broker if the position is live. This site never routes it.
BTC (buy to close)
Close a short
Read the hold / close / roll note
Open a journal row. The management note may say hold (no ticket), close (BTC (buy to close) and/or STC (sell to close) at a broker), or roll (close plus a new open). Refresh note re-reads the delayed chain. It does not trade.
WHAT ()
Stress the same fill in What if
After you log the live fill, click What if on the row. The lab copies ticker, strike, expiration, and the premium you typed. Move stock, days, and IV (implied volatility). That P/L (profit and loss) is a teaching Black–Scholes sketch, not your broker statement.
Trade review
After you mark a row closed — or it expires — Journal writes a review: ticker, structure, entry, your thesis, realized P/L (profit and loss), then what went right or wrong. Direction only if we stored delayed last at log and at close. “Paid high IV (implied volatility)” only if ATM (at the money) implied volatility at entry was elevated and you bought premium. After about 20 closed trades, the desk names the most common miss, for example buying when implied volatility was elevated. Practice classroom fills never appear here.
Export
CSV export is included for every signed-in account. None of that is a brokerage statement.
Practice vs Journal
Practice: classroom cash, delayed-mid “fills,” assignment on paper shares. Journal: your typed live (or planned) book, delayed marks, coaching notes. Use How to use Practice if you want the simulator instead.
How the Greeks move
Journal is a book, not a structure. Use What if on the row, or the Learn lab for that structure, to see how delta and theta move. Do not add a BTO (buy to open) because a Greek looks cheap.
Checking for a quiz…
Teaching numbers only — not a live quote, not a fill, not financial advice. All lessons · Back to Practice · Replay · Journal.